Reading

We've got two new readers in the house! I love to read and I love that my kids love to be read to. I love when they learn to read and anxiously await the day when they begin to LOVE to read. This is exciting for me:)

A couple weeks ago as Three was reading to me, Four was sitting nearby. Three was struggling to pronounce a word (poor kid, still trying to figure this out) when Four sounded it out for her.

Yep, she can read. Very basic and beginning, but she is reading nonetheless and is very excited about this. I'm not going to make her wait until she is in kindergarten to help her advance like I did with One. When One was four years old, she too began reading. Somebody, actually several somebodies, advised me to not encourage her reading as it is a kindergarten skill and she would be so bored if she was too far ahead. As she is my firstborn, I listened to that crap and while I let her read, I did not encourage it, nor did I help her. So lame! Anyhow, kindergarten started, she was bored out of her mind anyway. I have always regretted not helping her move forward when she wanted to so badly. What a dumb lesson to learn. So, Four is reading and super excited about it and I am spending time with her, helping her learn to read.

Oh, the fine line we walk with encouraging our kids and trying to protect the hearts of others.

This is upsetting to Three for obvious reasons (she cannot read and it hurts both of our hearts). Now when I have the kids read to me we keep them isolated. It is private time with mom. We are all together when I read to them, so it's still good.

Last night after I finished up homework with BoyTwo (letters and math, always a struggle), I called Four over to the table to read with me. She pulled out her book and began sounding out words. BoyTwo watched her doing this and grabbed the book when she was finished with it. The look on his face was clear. Sibling rivalry. He then proceeded to sound out the words.

Honestly, I did not think this would happen for YEARS. It is a miracle. He is soooo excited. His reading is very beginning and he can only do words if he knows the letters (duh) and he cannot do letter blends (th, ch, sh, etc) yet and he has no idea what he is saying even though if I read it to him he comprehends, but people! The boy can read! (insert the hallelujah chorus) The whole school was cheering for him. It made me teary to see how many people care for this little guy. We stopped in the office because he wanted to show the principal that he could read. His audience there included the school special ed specialist, two secretaries, a 6th grade teacher, his letter/phonetics specialist and a couple random kids who were in the office for other reasons. They clapped. They cheered. They high-fived. They hugged. He stopped every person as we walked down the hall to the classroom. Each person clapped, cheered, high-fived and hugged. In his classroom he called his classmates to attention (that was pretty funny to witness) and read to them. I've never seen a classroom of first graders sit so silently and respectfully. When he was finished, they clapped, cheered, high-fived, hugged. He was a celebrity.

***but he couldn't handle all the positive feedback and had a terrible day at school. Hitting (as in multiple offenses), throwing rocks, disruptive, etc. It's so odd to me how difficult it is for some people to receive positive ANYTHING! I love the line from Megamind at the end of the movie when he saves the day and he is swarmed by people trying to thank and congratulate him and he almost laser beams them all. It epitomizes the boys:

"He's not used to positive feedback!"

How true.